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www.wangarattachronicle.com.au
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
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State plea for more support of women’s health
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Devils double delight
Page 3
Pages 11-25
Sport
STORMY SUMMER AT AN END WANGARATTA’S summer was one of contrasts. While it lacked the extreme heat, unseasonally humid conditions last month and a much wetter January than average complemented one of our most mild summers in decades. It was one also punctuated by some intense storms, as captured in his image by Wangaratta Chronicle photographer Kurtis Hickling last week. ■ See Story page 5
Funding failure STATE CFA officials have been unable to provide clarity on a dearth of infrastructure funding in the rural city, amid calls for the Victorian Government to increase allowances for the state’s fire response. CFA Chief Officer Jason Heffernan visited Wangaratta late last week with senior infrastructure
CFA officials demand increased infrastructure support pp BY RYAN MALCOLM rmalcolm@ nemedia.com.au
officials to discuss challenges posed to the rural city fire response following the temporary
evacuation of Ely Street’s District 23 headquarters and subsequent closure of the region’s incident control centre ahead of this season’s fire danger period. District 23 assistant chief fire officer Stewart Kreltszheim had previously advocated for a new
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standalone headquarters, after staffing increases had rendered the existing headquarters and incident control centre unfit for purpose. Mr Kreltszheim said discussions about moving to a new standalone District 23 headquarters
had been “fruitful”, but admitted funding was hard to come by in the current climate. “We looked at a number of options - the Chief Officer and general manager infrastructure services committed to discussions about
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progressing one or more options,” he said. “Wangaratta is one of many priorities across CFA - with COVID, there’s a lot of pressure on where public dollars get spent. “All we can do is advocate for the money we need to serve the community the best we can.” ■ Continued page 3
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